Thursday, March 18, 2010

Insanely Unfair, and a too-Often Told Tale

Today I heard that a young woman I know has succumbed to cancer. It was a rare form, and in one that young (she was in her very early 30s), it took hold very potently. She fought it traditionally for a year, then bravely informed her husband that she would forego chemo, which had made her life hell, and live whatever life she had left with quality and dignity. They took on alternate therapies and the last time I saw her, last September at our cottage holiday, she looked like a million dollars. She shone over our festivities with such style and I thanked her for bringing some badly needed glamour to our happily scruffy group. With delight she pointed out that her slinky top was from this garage sale, her jeans from Goodwill, her earrings from another yard sale, etc., with nothing costing more than $5. She looked as though a professional stylist had made it all happen. And only her smooth, lovely bald head would give you any indication she had been, or was still ill.

For one so very beautiful she had a surprisingly powerful personality, a great sense of humour, and had chosen to live outside the big city, in a very small community where she found a wonderful home with her husband and dogs.

I've sighed many of those long, shuddering sighs today, and all the petty problems seem so very petty tonight.

Oh, for comfort for her loved ones! This really is insanely unfair, but such is life it seems.

From the top: sunset in the Kawarthas; sun on the water on the same lake; bulbs just outside the front door this afternoon

I'm sorry to hear about the loss of your friend. It sounds like she had a sparkling soul. I'm sure she will continue to shine like the sun on the water in your photo.The photo of the flowers sprouting new life shows such contradiction to your loss. Take care.BTW...I found your page through Betsy's lovely blog.

JJ: I have some followers so I think it's possible, but I don't know how as I haven't officially followed anyone myself. But I do visit a lot of my favourite blogs regularly and I'll be over to discover yours. Thank you for the kind remark.

Lady Cat: What a beautiful comment.. particularly your reference to her sparkling soul and the water. I was thinking along the same lines. One year the mother of a friend of ours died, and it was fall. We gave her a large basket of bulbs and so that spring, when some months had passed, she'd see the new growth and hopefully feel some solace. The new growth of spring is a wonder isn't it? I'll be over to discover your blog!

Dr. S: I so agree. I'd have left cancer out too, if I'd been the one to create the universe too. That and naked mole rats. Hope all is well with you, and it's good to see you again!

Stirred by the possible and by collaboration; inspired by nature and art; driven by the need to be useful and fulfilled; inclined to day-dreaming and sighing. E-mail me at blog[dot]princess[at]yahoo[dot]ca. There, hope that stops the spamming.

"You must always have great, secret, big fat hopes for yourself in love and in life. The bigger, the better."Glora Vanderbilt

"Only that day dawns to which we are awake."Henry David Thoreau (Walden)

"What if there is no God and you only go around once and that's it. Well, you know, don't you want to be part of the experience? You know, what the hell, it's not all a drag. And I'm thinking to myself, Jeez, I should stop ruining my life searching for answers I'm never going to get, and just enjoy it while it lasts. And after who knows, I mean maybe there is something, nobody really knows. I know 'maybe' is a very slim reed to hang your whole life on, but that's the best we have. And then I started to sit back, and I actually began to enjoy myself." Woody Allen as Mickey in Hannah and Her Sisters (1986).

"A sense of security, of well-being, of summer warmth pervades my memory. That robust reality makes a ghost of the present. The mirror brims with brightness; a bumblebee has entered the room and bumps against the ceiling. Everything is as it should be, nothing will ever change, nobody will ever die."Vladimir Nabakov (Speak, Memory)